The Charbonneau inquiry into corruption in the construction industry has uncovered a problem.

The RCMP had video evidence of thousands of dollars in kickback money from construction entrepreneurs allegedly being handed over to Mafia bosses. But they did not share this information with the Sûreté du Québec and it took a court order to get them to turn it over to the Charbonneau Commission.

This is scandalous and is evidence of inter-agency rivalry, where the public good is being ignored. It has to stop.

From what we have seen so far—the inquiry is only getting started—it has become painfully obvious that the rot is deeply rooted in Quebec, and probably elsewhere in Canada.

And as in the Cliché Commission, which investigated violence and corruption in the construction industry in 1974 and 1975, safeguards will have to be introduced to ensure that criminal activity is no longer able to bleed and terrorize one of Quebec’s most important industries.